Frigidaire - Frigidaire Gallery Dryer Fire Hazard

We purchased the dryer in 2005, and tonight, July 28, 2006 we nearly lost our home to fire. I was up late and had a load of clothes in the dryer when I began to smell smoke. After getting my family out of the house, I went back in and shut off the dryer and other electrical items. I opened the dryer and the heat that came out burned my face, it is now red and has been for over an hour. It is also very painful. The walls and floors all the way out to the kitchen were warm as well. I would not recommend this product and believe if the company had any pride they would recall their fire trap. Painfully yours--- Andrea

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35 Comments

My Frigidaire stacked dryer (purchased in 2000) caught the clothes and my condo on fire on 5/21/2007. It was not a lint fire. The fire started in the barrel. Looks like the heating element overheated. How did you resolve your issue? Thanks for your help.

b4d82956, 2008-04-25, 07:51PM CDT

I also experienced a fire with my Frigidaire dyer - it started in the motor. Luckily we were home, and my husband was able to put it out with 2 fire extinguishers. We had an investigator from Frigidaire here as well as an insurance investigator (not affiliated with Frigidaire) and we're waiting word on how they will handle this situation. I am actually afraid to hook up another Frigidaire dyer in my house after reading your comments, and finding out that this is not an isolated incident.

--Tina Thompson

1af5521d, 2008-04-27, 02:06PM CDT

We bought a Frigidaire allery Series washer and dryer from Orvilles Appliances in 2004. Dryer model # GLGQ942CS. Last night we had a fire in our house! After we evacualted the house and the fire department came and tore out all the piping downstairs it was discovered that it was NOT a lint fire and that the fire had started and was inside the dryer itself. After the dryer was put into the backyard and the firechief opened it up. It was discovered that the motor overheated and caught fire and ignited some sort of Frigidaire envelope that they placed inside the motor compartment on the side that stated " DO NOT Remove this envelope" Ironically that small header from the top of what appeared to be a 8x10" envelope was all that was left inside the charred comparment. The rest was ashes. It was very scary time last night.

I am interested in hearing from others who have had similar experiences with their Frigidaire (Electrolux) Gallery Series Gas Dryer.GLGQ942CS

79795d1f, 2008-07-30, 10:03PM CDT

I own a Frigidaire gallery model#fse447ghs0 stackable

dryer. I have had several items of clothing burned by the unit and am replacing it this Massachusetts sales tax holiday. I have been forever trying to figure out how the clothing is getting burn marks and finally caught one of the items in the process of lighting up. The clothing is getting stuck between the turning drum and the flange. I am sure that is a good possible reason that we will or have had fires. I posted this to see if I am not the only one to see this problem and I assume their are others which like me am composing a letter to our state attorney consumer complaints department to alert them of this potential danger.

29bb8828, 2008-09-05, 07:10PM CDT

I have the same model of dryer. I have just gotten over 1st degree burns on three of my fingers from touching the back of the dryer. I noticed the top of the dryer was extremely hot and that is when I touched the back (like an idiot). I have had repair people out, the lint line blown out and an electrician come out. Consensus is the dryer isn't worth the money I paid for it and is more than likely a fire hazard waiting to happen. The back of the dryer is all scorched and brown. I guess I am lucky it didn't burn. What is the answer to getting these darn things recalled?

cf0b0379, 2008-12-01, 02:57PM CST

We also have a Frigidair piece of doo doo dryer. Model #LG02152ESO manufactured in 04/05. From the time we purchased it we have had nothing but problems finally resulting in the unit catching on fire. It is a front loading model. Any clothing with thin straps would get caught on the lint screen and twist around until they broke. I can't tell you how many shirts it ruined and now it finally caught on fire inside the unit. My husband took the back panel off only to find ash and melted plastic. I have called Electrolux and they have said because we didn't have an extended warranty the best they can offer us is a 20% rebate to put towards a new purchas and the name of a service provider which we would need to pay for. I could only reply by saying are you kidding me..... yes I think I would like to invest more money into a terrible product for you to tell me it is not safe to fix, duh! Then because they think that I am a complete idiot I should turn around and spend more money on another one of their piles of junk which may or may not burn my house when it too could catch on fire. Really though the best part of it is I could pay 20% less because of their "generous good faith rebate offer." Certainly gives me some peace of mind. What a joke! If you too decide that this may not be the resolution you were seeking, ask for a supervisor. Then you can understand and experience the peak of frustration as you hear the dial tone after being hung up on.

370ac982, 2009-01-02, 01:20PM CST

We also bought the same dryer 4/2005. This past friday 12/26/2008 the dryer caught fire. My wife heard the dryer buzz like it does when a load is done. She opened the door to the wash room and smoke poured out. I ran into the room in the middle of the smoke and it looked like the entire bottom of the dryer was in flames @ 3-4" high. The FD had to come out and put the fire out. We were told it looked like an electrical fire and the motor overheated. The "hot spot" looked to be the bottom left corner area. The clothes on the inside of the drum ignited as well........luckily we mostly only had smoke damage and were home at the time this happened! otherwise I am certian we would have had much more damage.

d5aeeed2, 2009-07-13, 12:46PM CDT

We had a dryer fire 7/4/2009 with the stackable frigidaire gas dryer CRGF342AS3. We caught it when we smelled smoke. The lint built up in the back of the drum where the holes were. There was also a bunch of lint inside the dryer covering the motor like a blanket and all around the bottom. The lint ignited from the gas burner tube and traveled along the inside bottom and up into the back of the drum. I took the dryer apart and the part that connects the lint screen housing to the blower squirel cage exaust was all melted. The cause was a loose gasket that blew little by little lint into the bottom of the dryer. My situation was made worse by the sawdust that was mixed in with the lint as I worked at a saw mill and brought home and washed my clothes. So a lesson learned. When the instructions say to have the unit serviced regualarly they mean it. Taking the front cover off and vacuming it out once a year is a good idea. I ordered the replacement parts. It looks like the replacement gasket must be heavier duty since it cost $25. The old one was like the weather striping you would put on windows. So for $65 I was able to get the 2 parts I needed to repair from www.partstore.com

e6064b81, 2009-10-27, 10:17PM CDT

I have the same problem. Can I fix this?

Is this a recall item? What can we do?

2f700b21, 2009-11-13, 05:14PM CST

We had the same dryer GLGQ642AS. It had the exact same fire inside the drum. It started a fire while I was at work and caused 150,000 damage to my home. We lived in a rental for six months and are now back in my new rebuilt home. The repair guy said about six months earlier that it had started a fire before but the dryer is suppose to maintain inside the drum. There is a small crack between the dryer and the drum and over time it builds up and the lint over the motor ignites. Very scary thing, we could of been sleeping. I was paid for everything because we had good insurance but I lost 4 weeks of work the stress on the family. I am currently seeking legal counsel to sue the company to take this off the market and compensate me for my loss time from work and stress-Thank You

4c4c94e3, 2009-11-17, 01:35PM CST

I had fire on sept.4th 2009, due to a Frigidaire dryer. I had to move out for two months basically living out a box. I have five children who could of been hurt or worse if we were'nt awake.They really need to do something about their dryers. we should all get together and file a class action suite against them.

2f700b21, 2009-12-07, 12:19PM CST

We had the same dryer GLGQ642AS. It had the exact same fire inside the drum. It started a fire while I was at work and caused 150,000 damage to my home. We lived in a rental for six months and are now back in my new rebuilt home. The repair guy said about six months earlier that it had started a fire before but the dryer is suppose to maintain inside the drum. There is a small crack between the dryer and the drum and over time it builds up and the lint over the motor ignites. Very scary thing, we could of been sleeping. I was paid for everything because we had good insurance but I lost 4 weeks of work the stress on the family. I am currently seeking legal counsel to sue the company to take this off the market and compensate me for my loss time from work and stress-Thank You

387816b4, 2009-12-09, 07:13PM CST

We purchased this dryer also. Flames came out the back of the dryer. We just purchase the set about 6 mths ago. never had any issues with it till today when we turned it on to dry a load of clothes. The wires in the back are fried.

2f700b21, 2010-02-22, 11:09PM CST

I talked to a couple of lawyers but i dont think any want to take my case. In the world of insurance in their minds I have been compensated and that is the end of story, but I still have the stress and 4 weeks of vacation pay. The insurance company would go after them but I dont think they did and what good would that do for me. I think everybody on this complaint forum should be compensated and this terrible machine should be taken from the market. Is their an attorney that is not a pussy that would take on Electrolux, from these stories on this website it could be worth millions in a class action suit. E-mail me if you want to take my case.-Thank You

186baab0, 2010-04-08, 10:26AM CDT

Our dryer has ruined many clothing items by then getting caught between the drum and the flange. We are afraid of a fire and will be replacing the unit sooner rather than later.

3e262bee, 2010-12-15, 07:21PM CST

We bought a stackable washer and AEQ6000ES electrolux frigidaire dryer 3 yrs. ago. 1 month ago the dryer caught fire. My daughters and I were asleep on the second story of our home. Our alarms were all going off. Thankfully my husband heard the alarms and got us out of the house safely. The bathroom where the stackables were at was on fire and is costing us over 12 thousand to fix and smoke damage is no easy task to get out of your home. We are still living out of a hotel. They say the fire was caused from the lent.Yes lent that gets caught inside of the unit. I am a very anal cleaner so the thought of me not cleaning the lent trap is out of the question. My concern is why dont they make a safety cover over the lent screen keeping lent from dropping down inside.Or how about this , if the unit gets too hot have it shut off!!! Samsung does make a cover for their lent screens I have bought this one and it'll be ready to use when we are FINALLY able to move into our home. Bosch also makes their units with a mechanism that shuts the unit off if it gets too hot. I have been doing alot of shopping around this last month and its amazing how much more these other companies need to catch up on SAFETY. Please for all who read these reviews please do not buy from these companies that do not have these safety elements ESPECIALLY Fridgedaire!!! There are so many complaints on here about Fridgedaire Fires. Please Fridgedaire step up your safety department people should not buy from you with all these fires that are happening. PLEASE CONSUMERS SAVE YOUR FAMILIES. DO YOUR HOMEWORK AND INVESTIGATE BEFORE YOU BUY...... WE BARELY ESCAPED.......

47d48cd9, 2010-12-25, 06:13PM CST

yeah, we have had drying issues lately too.. after reading these few stories, it has lead us to take and need a new dryer. same deal. frigedare gallary series. we have singed lint jammed all around the drum in the body cavity, and the top of our unit is so hot that you can melt candle wax with it. we also had a paper envelope placed in the bottom of the unit. what wouldve happened if we didnt catch this? would we be out of a home? would we be out of this world? i pray that frigedaire can make a better unit in the future, but as for out home, we will not be an ongoing costumer, we are switching brands.

ff3e4b74, 2011-04-11, 10:12AM CDT

I have a Frigidaire stacked washer/dryer model gleh1642ds0. Beginning just after purchase I've had the heater coil shield and coil fail 3 times and the wiring harness that powers the coil melted!!!!

Susan B., 2012-08-19, 09:48PM CDT

I was at home done laundry and watching the news when I heard a loud POP. I walked down the hallway to see gray smoke coming out of the washroom. I opened the door and saw smoke pouring out of the dryer. I immediately called 911 and returned to the washroom to check it out further while on the phone with 911. When I opened the dryer door, there were flames shooting up 12" high. I unplugged the dryer and ran out of the house. The fire department put it out and limited the burn damage to the wash room. The smoke damage was a different story - $25,000. later and 5 weeks in a hotel and I still cannot return home. I had just cleaned out the back vent a month before and am very careful to ensure the dryer lint trap is cleaned after each use. This was the stackable dryer. If anyone knows of any recalls, I would really appreciate the information. Seems like I am not the only person with this problem. Thank goodness I had not stepped out of the house or gone to sleep.

peshy f., 2012-11-08, 09:03PM CST

I wish I wouldve seen these posts before my dryer went up in flames....My sister and I both owned the Gallery dryer , her's caught fire two years ago and today my dryer went up in flames. The firemen came to put out the fire and inspected the element and ruled out a lint fire..It's a faulty machine! I wish people would be aware of this problematic machine to avoid the anguish and trauma!

John P., 2012-11-17, 12:24PM CST

Have a stacked Frigidaire model FEX831CS0, which also caught fire. Apparently the drum bearings in the dryer failed and somehow pulled the motor around the axle and shorted out the wiring harness. This is certainly a product safety issue, I would hate to think what would have happened if the wires had continued to burn. My tenant was very scared, and the appliance repairman said he had never seen a dryer fail in quite this way. Only about 4-5 years old. Is there a recall on this model?

Bob, 2013-02-10, 03:15PM CST

Frigidaire Gallery Precision Dry Model FSE748GFS1 - stackable dryer installed in one of our rental units. This tenant is fanatic about cleanliness and things like dryer lint - there is never a trace of it in or around the vent, the filter or behind or inside the machine. Two days ago, however, she smelled something like an electrical fire and tracked it to the dryer. When she opened the door, she could hear and see electrical arcing from inside the cabinet, but behind the drum. We took the dryer down from the stack and opened the top to find that the entire electrical harness running across the top rear of the machine was fried and fused into a mass of red and black plastic and copper. The inside of the top was blackened as was the rear panel and portions of the drum. Has ANYone had ANY success in dealing with Electrolux/Frigidaire about this sort of thing?

Pam D., 2013-03-13, 08:42PM CDT

I just has a fire my self with a Frigidare dryer, firemen and all! What did you guys do when this happened? Do I call them or who?

Bob, 2013-03-14, 01:17PM CDT

Frigidaire suggested that we call an appliance technician and get it fixed. Thanks a bunch!

Pam D., 2013-03-14, 07:45PM CDT

Oh right! It's burnt! They have great customer service!!! That's the last I buy of that brand!

86ee027e, 2013-05-07, 09:08AM CDT

Frigidaire just caught on fire this week its pretry scary good Thing my smoke detector went off. Call Frigidaire and did not do nothing!!!! There faulty and should had a recall on these dryer.

Vicky P., 2013-05-22, 02:11PM CDT

My son and daughter in laws dryer just caught on fire 5-19-13. Come to find out that they still have warranty till the end of this month and called the warranty people and they said to call Frididaire now have to wait another 5 days. Thank god my daughter in law was home still did damage to their condo and they cannot live in their house till gets all cleaned up and painted. With all the complaints why has no one gotten any recalls?

Samantha W., 2015-02-24, 10:34PM CST

Mine just caught fire inside the drum yesterday. Very scary! Thankfully I was home and able to put it out with a home fire extingusher. It was NOT lint.

Wayne T., 2014-03-04, 12:31PM CST

Yesterday morning I put a load of clothes in the dryer just before jumping in the shower. Once I stepped out of the shower I smelled smoke in the house, it was coming from the laundry room around the dryer area. I immediately turned the dryer off, pulled it out from underneath the built-in cabinet and unplugged it. I was opening up the doors and windows in my house to relieve the smoke, as I was walking back to the laundry room I could see flames glowing inside the dryer. I grabbed my fire extinguisher and put the fire out. After the walls of the dryer cooled enough for me to touch it, I removed the top and back vented panels to access the damage and cause. To my surprise the envelope was ignited by a faulty wire. The wiring harness lays directly on the wiring diagram that is attached to the inside wall of the dryer. Bad location!! I think I can salvage the dryer with minor repairs however it would seem that this is an ongoing issue based on the number of complaints. Remove the wiring diagram or risk having a fire.

Mark O., 2014-04-06, 02:53PM CDT

My stackable Frigidaire dryer would not shut off, no buttons worked and the clothes inside were extremely hot! I unplugged power cord and let it cool down. When I took the control panel apart and found it had been on fire! Thank God it was contained to the panel area! Trying to contact Frigidaire about now!

Bob, 2014-04-06, 03:30PM CDT

Best of luck in contacting Frigidaire, Mark - REALLY!

ad18b738, 2014-10-07, 03:54PM CDT

Frigidaire Dryer Model GLEQ642AS2 with door open and drum not turning heating element will turn on glowing red if start button is pushed.

Has anybody found a welded contact on the heater switch built in the motor assembly?

5b40e3d7, 2014-11-29, 06:26PM CST

I have a Frigidaire Gallery heavy duty dryer, I was not running the dryer but happened to touch it and it was so hot you could not keep your hands on it. I unplugged it, and it started to cool down. The back panel was scorched, so was back of drum. After reading all these post, I'm just thankful to be alive & I am trashing this dryer.

Mark O., 2014-12-01, 11:06AM CST

When you do get a hold of Frigidaire they will be as nice as can be and take all your info., as soon as they hear about the burnt out circuit they will ask is there any damage. Of course there isn't because you caught it before there was anymore damage. They will tell you it is out of warranty and nothing they can do! Will never ever buy another Frigidaire product, ever! My house could have burnt down and they still wouldn't do anything! No product updates, recall, anything. They don't care about there own products unless it is still under warranty! Don't waste your money on them!

7c13982a, 2015-02-24, 09:39PM CST

We recently bought a Frigidaire gallery dryer and it's getting really hot as well I have replaced about every part on it and it's still getting hot!we have 3 childern and alot of laundry to do all the time. Now we don't have the extra money to replace it or buy anything else. I'm so upset with this whole situation and this product I can't sleep at night.

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